Van der Garde wins case over Sauber seat

© XPB 

Giedo van der Garde has won his court case against Sauber, with the ruling stating he must race for the team this weekend in Australia.

Van der Garde successfully claimed Sauber had reneged on a deal which would see him racing for the team in 2015, calling for an urgent hearing at the Supreme Court of Victoria in Melbourne on Monday. A decision was made on Wednesday, with Justice Clyde Croft telling the court: "The application is successful and will be enforced."

The ruling sees Sauber told to put van der Garde in one of the two cars racing this weekend, despite Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson having already been named as the team's two race drivers.

"I'm very fit and very strong," van der Garde said outside the court. "I'm looking forward to going back to the team and we'll work hard to do our best for this weekend. I still have a very good relation with the team. I'm looking forward to racing this weekend."

Sauber originally argued that putting van der Garde in the car would represent a safety risk having developed the C34 with Nasr and Ericsson in mind.

“We are disappointed with this decision and now need to take time to understand what it means and the impact it will have on the start of our season," team principal Monisha Kaltenborn said in a statement.

"What we cannot do is jeopardise the safety of our team, or any other driver on the track, by having an unprepared driver in a car that has now been tailored to two other assigned drivers.”

Click here for the F1i 2015 season preview

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter